'Dancing' Pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy Reveals He Was At World Trade Center On 9/11; Reacts To Bin Laden's Death

May 3, 2011 01:41 PM EDT

Following President Barack Obama’s announcement that Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had been killed over the weekend, many stars are revisiting the harrowing events of September 11, 2001. “Dancing with the Stars” pro dancer Maksim Chmerkovskiy revealed to Access Hollywood’s Shaun Robinson that he was at the World Trade Center the morning it was attacked.

“Well, unfortunately or fortunately, I was at World Trade Center when the planes hit,” he said following Monday’s show. “I was a little too close, I lost some people… I’ve been touched a lot by the situation because of how many people were in the World Trade Center working and everything else and then some of my [dance students’] parents were, you know, lost.

“The first plane hit and I didn’t know what it was, but I was trying to get back to my family, so I hopped inside the train in the WTC metro station. So, by the time I got out it was all over the place and it was a bit crazy,” the reality star, who was living in New York and teaching dance classes at the time, continued.

In terms of the death of bin Laden, Maksim expressed admiration for the men and women involved in the operation.

“I don’t think that death, you know, brings people back obviously, but I do believe in spite of what others are saying… this needed to happen and I just admire whoever was involved,” he said.

Adding, “Thank you to the troops… it definitely puts a big dent in the terrorism.”

The “DWTS” pro wished he could have celebrated the weekend’s news with other New Yorkers.

“I really would like to have been in New York,” he told Shaun. “It’s a special moment, it’s a very special moment.”